The 49th Annual Nashville Film Festival concluded its 10-day festival on Friday with the highly-anticipated announcement of the 2018 Award Winners. The top feature film awards went to Prison Logic directed by Romany Malco, winning the Narrative Competition Grand Jury Prize, and Minding the Gap directed by Bing Liu taking the Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize.
Feature Film Awards
Narrative Competition Grand Jury Prize – Romany Malco, Prison Logic
Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize – Bing Liu, Minding the Gap
Belmont University New Directors Competition Grand Jury Prize – Jim Cummings, Thunder Road
Animation Compeition Grand Jury Prize – Benjamin Renner & Patrick Imbert, The Big Bad FOX and Other Tales
Music Films/Music City Grand Jury Prize – Scott Balcerek, Satan & Adam
Short Film Awards
Live Action Short – Grand Jury Prize – Cyril Aris, The President’s Visit
US Narrative Short – Julio O. Ramos, Debris
International Narrative Short – Nicolas Boucart, Icarus
Animated Short – Grand Jury Prize – Trevor Jiminez, Weekends
Documentary Short – Grand Jury Prize – Gordon Quinn, ’63 Boycott
Experimental Short – Grand Jury Prize – Douwe Dijkstra, Green Screen Gringo
Student Short – Grand Jury Prize – Maria Eriksson-Hecht, Schoolyard Blues
Young Filmmakers Short – Alex Alford & Zak Denley, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Suburbia
Episodic Awards
Short Form – The Passage
Long Form – Tammy’s Tiny Tea Time – The Full Series
VR | 360
Grand Jury Prize – I Am a Man, created by Derek Ham
Honorable Mention – MicroGiants, created by Yifu Zhou
Graveyard Shift Awards
Graveyard Shift Grand Jury Prize for Feature Film – Mickey Reece, Mickey Reece’s Alien
Graveyard Shift Grand Jury Prize for Short Film – Bo MaGuire, Socks on Fire: Uncle John and the COPPER Headed Water Rattlers
Graveyard Shift, Best Actress – Cate Jones, Mickey Reece’s Alien
Graveyard Shift, Best Actor (tie) – C.J. Jones, Door in the Woods
Graveyard Shift, Best Actor (tie) – Jacob Ryan Snovel, Mickey Reece’s Alien
Special Jury Prize for Imagination Philosophical and Scientific Rigor and Visual Inventiveness, Graveyard Shift – The LaPlace’s Demon
Tennessee Awards
Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Feature – Brett Hanover, Rukus
Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Narrative Short – Hillary Bell, Hunter
Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Documentary Short – Karen Bullis, Kathy Lee Heuston, Clarksville, 1937
Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Student Short – Jason Luckett, Pilots
Song
Best Original Song – “Talk to Me,” from Blindspotting. Written by Anthony Hamilton
Audience Awards
Narrative Competition – Prison Logic
Documentary Competition – Weed the People
New Directors Competition – Mountain Rest
Music Films/Music City Competition – If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd (tie)
Music Films/Music City Competition – Stay Human (tie)
Special Presentations – Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me
Spectrum – Into the Okavango
Graveyard Shift – The Odds
Tennessee First – Other Versions of You
Non-Cash Awards
Honorable Mention, Narrative Competition – Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, When She Runs
Best Actor, Narrative Competition – Romany Malco, Prison Logic
Best Actress, Narrative Competition – Elise Van’t Laar in Craving
Best Screenplay – Vivien Qu, Angels Wear White
Best Music – Carl Thiel, Prison Logic
Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performances by a Young Actress – Meijun Zhou & Vicky Chen in Angels Wear White
Honorable Mention, Documentary Competition – Laura Nix, Inventing Tomorrow
Special Jury Prize for Openly and Honestly Expressing Love at a Critical Time – Ron Yassen, Crossroads
Honorable Mention, New Directors Competition (tie) – Bierta Zeqiri, The Marriage
Honorable Mention, New Directors Competition (tie) – Takashi Doscher, Still
Honorable Mention, Music Films/Music City Competition – Stephen Kijack, If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd
Honorable Mention, Graveyard Shift Competition – Christopher Kirkley, Zerzura
Honorable Mention, Best International Short – Estefania Cortés, Miss Wamba
Honorable Mention, Best U.S. Short – Carey Williams, Emergency
Honorable Mention, Best Animated Short – Florian Brauch, Kim Tailhades, Matthieu Pujol, Romain Thirion, Yohan Thireau, Hybrids
Special Jury Prize, Actor in a Narrative Short – Tom Doran, Time Traveller
Special Jury Prize, Actress in a Narrative Short – Shaquita Lopez, Audition
Special Jury Prize for Unique and Important Storytelling – Fabien Gorgeart, The Devil is in the Details
Honorable Mention, Documentary Short – Shelby Hadden, Tightly Wound
Honorable Mention, Documentary Short – Maris Curran, While I Yet Live
Honorable Mention, Experimental Short – Eve Duhame, Julian Vallée, Strangers
Honorable Mention, Best Graveyard Shift Short – John Boisen, Björn Fävremark, Paralys
Honorable Mention Colleg Student Short – Alireza Ghasemi, Lunch Time
Honorable Mention, Best Tennessee Narrative Short – Chad Cunningham, The Order
Special Jury Prize for Best Tennessee Animated Short – John McAmis, QWERTY
Special Jury Prize for Cinematography – Luca Caruso-Moro, Every Grain of Rice
Special Jury Prize for Music Films/Music City – Bathtubs Over Broadway
Sponsored Awards
VER Prize for Cinematography – Ashley Connor, Mountain Rest
Lipscomb University Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Nicolo Donato, Across the Waters